The present invention relates generally to computer hardware maintenance, and more particularly, to access covers for use in inhibiting access to electronic components housed within an enclosure and removal tools for use in assisting in the removal of electronic components from an enclosure.
Computer enclosures generally have open cavities for housing structures that seat removable electronic components such as expansion cards. Expansion cards are commonly used to increase audio, communications, graphics and processing capabilities of systems. Cards are typically thin, rectangular printed circuit boards that have connector pins along one edge. The pins are coupled to corresponding sockets of an expansion bus. Expansion buses, such as a Peripheral Component Interconnect or Industry Standard Architecture buses, are electrically coupled to main system circuit boards.
With expansion cards that have small numbers of connector pins, users may be capable of manually seating and unseating cards. However, some expansion cards can have as many as several hundred connector pins that must be seated. Such a task often requires tools that are especially designed to overcome the forces associated with connector pin insertion and removal. Thus, a single seating or unseating process often requires an operator to have numerous tools on hand, including many that are expensive, awkward and easily misplaced. Also, forces applied to an expansion card during insertion or removal may be unevenly distributed across the card edge due to a misalignment of the tool, expansion card and/or connector bus. Uneven forces can result in ineffective seating and removal, as well as damage to the expansion card and internal computer hardware.
In addition to insertion/removal tools, a separate device for covering the open cavity is often necessary. The cover device is principally necessary to prevent the escape of electromagnetic noise from the cavity. Uncontained noise interferes with the operation of nearby electronic devices, such as computer monitors. A cover device is also necessary to prevent an operator from unintentionally contacting the load-bearing hardware housed within the cavity. Conversely, the cover protects the contained hardware from dust and other contaminants, as well as from remote electromagnetic noise.
Cover devices often comprise perforated sheet metal panels that block noise emanating from the cavity. Plastic grips on the panel attach to the top and bottom edges of the cavity. Some such devices permanently attach to an expansion card. Much of the electromagnetic noise is impeded by the covers, however, the external plastic grips can introduce gaps in coverage. Even a small gap or seam between the sheet metal and a cavity edge can permit an unacceptable amount of noise to escape. Attempts to ground escaping electromagnetic noise include attaching copper springs to the sheet metal cover. The springs contact the cavity edges, acting to redirect escaping electromagnetic waves. Alternatively, springs originate from the portal and contact the metal sheet. In either case, the manufacture and attachment of copper springs, as well as the plastic grips, represent significant costs and installation challenges.
Therefore a significant need exists for an improved manner of seating and removing an expansion card, as well as for covering the cavity that houses the card.
The present invention addresses these and other problems associated with the prior art by providing a unique access cover that is removably securable over an access opening of an enclosure, and that, when removed, also functions as a removal tool for use in removing an electronic component accessible through the access opening.
In one embodiment consistent in the invention, a first catch mechanism defined on the cover removably engages the enclosure proximate the access opening. A second catch mechanism defined on the cover is configured to engage the electronic component when the first catch mechanism engages the enclosure. The cover is then capable of functioning as a lever arm when the first catch mechanism engages the enclosure to assist in urging the electronic component towards a disengaged position.
These and other advantages and features that characterize the invention are set forth in the claims annexed hereto and forming a further part hereof. However, for a better understanding of the invention, and of the advantages and objectives attained through its use, reference should be made to the Drawings, and to the accompanying descriptive matter, in which there are described exemplary embodiments of the invention.